1. Good DNA stock. Dad, Graziano was a GP winner. In 1979 Papa Rossi had his best racing year taking three victories in the 350 class onboard a Morbidelli. Although with Valentino's step-brother showing potential the genes may lie in the X chromosome passed on from his mother.
2. An astonishingly close love and anorak's knowledge of the sport. Rossi is a self-proclaimed student of Grand Prix racing and like the fans of the bygone era, he truly respects the legends of the sport and their achievements, with these factors driving his natural ambitions to new heights.
3. Coming from the bike mad country of Italy. Read his autobiography and you'll understand that growing up in Italy greatly enhanced his potential. Even if the start was blasting around the streets of Urbino on a scooter as a youth. Nationality helped too with running top-notch Aprilias from the age of 16 - doesn't hurt rider development.
4. A fantastic grounding in motorsports of all kinds, thanks to exposure to minimotos, off-road buggies and cars at a very young age continuing with Formula 1 and WRC drives now. But this has grown further, Rossi developed his two-wheel skill with an affinity with all forms of bikes, be it two or four-stroke - jumping off his NSR500 to win the Suzuka 8hr on a SP2 highlights this. It's easy, whatever Rossi gets on or in he'll be quick off the mark.
5. The ability to adapt to new machinery faster than others. Three of Rossi's premier championsips came onboard a Honda, but the fourth with Yamaha is the vital key to this attribute, taking back-to-back victories on different manufacturers. Making him a member of a small club of two, Eddie Lawson possesses the second membership. He's made a slower start with Ducati but with age comes wisdom and with a lingering injury hampering his performance, why rush...
Continue the Ten reasons why Rossi is the best
6. Being in possession of the biggest and most absorbent brain in the paddock. Simply put Rossi's brain is something special; in the way that he can process situations at a slower rate, catching mistakes before they have a chance to grow - where as an ordinary rider would be sitting in the medical unit still wondering what happened. But also in the analytical way he studies the workings of the machine to the choice words he adopts in interviews. Rossi is constantly downloading.
7. The backup of Jeremy Burgess and crew. Burgess is credited with nurturing Rossi's career in the premier class. From their beginnings at Honda, the collaborative effort of rider and crew has grown into a tight nit family. Somewhat similar to the Mafia. Rossi can be seen as the head of the family, Burgess at his side in the position of Consigliere and the rest of the crew making up the rest of the Caporegime and Soldiers.
8. A deep understanding of where the limit is, and the ability to push and seldom fall off. Barring the mistake at Valencia in 2006 and Mugello last year, Rossi has displayed a calm and smooth demeanor on the track. Looking to the past he's also displayed a limit that no-one else was able to match. Case in point was overcoming a 10 second penalty for passing under a yellow flag to still win at Philip Island in 2003.
9. The ability to win the psychological war when the opposition don't even know they're being played. He outrode the 125 and 250 guys and has psyched out the big class riders since 2001. Although this may be dwindling some argue the effect is still in the back of rivals' minds. The greatest psychological defeat comes in the example of Sete Gibernau. Following the track sweeping scandal at Qatar in 2004, Rossi proclaimed that the Spaniard would not win another race, sometimes going to the extreme and forcing Sete off the track (Jerez, 05). But the hex placed on Gibernau stood as he never won another race.
10. Being unfazed by his championship losses.With five years at the top of the MotoGP manor Rossi uncharacteristically suffered a two-year championship drought, first losing graciously to Nicky Hayden in 2006 and in 2007 to Casey Stoner. But rather than hang up his boots, he fought back harder taking two consecutive championships when people were contemplating his commitment. Vale was unsuccessful last season, but if history repeats itself and with the new challenge onboard the Desmosedici 2011 should prove to be entertaining for all involved.
